Page 19 of Sweet Chaos
“Okay. Sounds good. Thanks.” I checked my phone for the time. I still had an hour before I needed to be at the shop. “I’ll see you later.”
She told Nicola it was nice seeing her again and waved goodbye. I watched until she was out the door before I turned to my friend with a big smile on my face. She shook her head. “Sorry. I’m still a little star-struck. Where did Dylan and Remy come from? God, they’re both hot.” She fanned herself with her hand.
I had to agree with her. They were hot. Even in SoCal which had a higher than average number of beautiful people, the St. Clair twins stood out from the crowd.
If Dylan came to my party, I was screwed.
8
Dylan
“Holy shit. You bought a fucking hotel.” Cruz tossed a Nerf basketball into the hoop attached to my glass wall. “And look at that, ladies and gentlemen, he’s smiling.”
I was over the fucking moon. It had ended up being easier than I thought. The deal had gone off without a hitch, I’d gotten The Surf Lodge for a fair price, and I’d spent most of today on the phone, hiring service providers. A construction crew for the refurbishment, and an interior design firm for the remodel.
Cruz tossed me the ball and I took the shot one-handed. It banked off the backboard and swished through the net. He retrieved the ball and bounced it off the glass wall opposite him. Toss. Catch. Toss. Catch. Yeah, we were busy running a company. The blinds weren’t drawn, and I caught Melanie watching us. She averted her head but not before I noticed the blush on her cheeks. I pressed the remote and the machine made a soft whirring sound, the blinds lowering so slowly it was painful to watch. The blinds were sandwiched between two sheets of glass. Saved the cleaning crew from having to dust them. Saved me from feeling like I was sitting in a fishbowl.
“How did we get here? Remember when we lived on Ramen and cheap beer and struggled to pay the rent?” Cruz asked. “And now you own a fucking hotel.”
It wasn’t big or grand, but it was still ‘a fucking hotel’ and I was feeling pretty damn good about that.
I leaned back in my leather swivel chair and folded my hands behind my head, watching the ocean from my office window. The hazy gray sky met the sea and you couldn’t tell where one left off and the other began. I loved this view. Loved the ocean and the beach, especially on winter days when it was quiet and uncrowded.
“It’s a risk though,” Cruz said, ever the voice of reason. “Tying up your assets like that.”
I wasn’t tying up all my assets. That would be financial suicide. But every investment was a risk. “We wouldn’t be sitting here if we’d played it safe.”
“True.” He scrubbed his hand over his dark buzz cut and squinted at the view behind me, his face troubled. Whenever he got that look on his face, it was usually family-related.
“How’s Frankie?”
Cruz shook his head. He’d practically raised his little sister and had taken on adult responsibilities long before he should have had to.
“Got a new boyfriend. Guy’s a tool. I told him if he messes with her, I’ll beat the shit out of him.” Cruz chuckled. “He was practically pissing his pants. Haven’t seen him around since. Frankie hasn’t talked to me in a week. Said I’m ruining her life. Fucking teenage girls and their drama. I keep getting doors slammed in my face.”
I chuckled under my breath, picturing the scene over at Cruz’s house. Frankie and Cruz were always fighting about something. After we graduated college, Cruz got a place in Chula Vista and moved Frankie in with him. She hadn’t wanted to change schools and her friends were all there so Cruz made that sacrifice even though he would have preferred to move away.
“Once she graduates, I’m buying a place in Encinitas.”
“Hang in there. It’s only five more months.”
“A life sentence, more like it. I was trying to talk to Frankie about her future, you know. She hasn’t given it a thought. Doesn’t want to go to college. Doesn’t want to get a job. Thinks she can just sit around on her ass and the money will magically roll in.”
“Cut off her allowance. If she doesn’t have money, she’ll have to figure it out.”
Cruz leveled me with a look. “Just like you did with Rae, you mean?”
I had no defense for that, so I remained silent. I was still my mother’s keeper. Always would be. “I’ll give Frankie a job at The Surf Lodge this summer.”
“You’d put up with that attitude? Somehow, I can’t see that working out.”
“I’m not going to manage it. I’ll leave that up to the staff.”
“Look at you. You’ve got fucking staff now. You planning to get a butler too?”
I snorted as my landline rang. It was my direct line and the caller ID told me it was Simon Woods. I looked over at Cruz who raised his brows and remained seated, not wanting to miss this. I answered the call on speakerphone and cut right through the pleasantries. “Did you need something?”
“How did you get Whitaker to sell you The Surf Lodge?”
